


One Day at a Time

by orphan_account



Category: Invader Zim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22515130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Things are rapidly changing around them.People are opening up, people are closing off. Fences are being mended, and alliances are burning to the ground.Can they keep up with the fast-paced world around them and still stay true to themselves?
Kudos: 8





	1. Leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib places a camera in Zim’s house, and watches an interaction between Zim and the Tallests that changes everything.

It was a cold day. Fall was reaching its peak. Dib shivered. He always hated low temperatures. 

He was glad that he lived so close to the skool. Walking was a million times better than dealing with bullies on the school bus.

Still, he started to regret his choice when he felt another shiver. At least the busses had heat. 

But, of course, walking made it easier to spot paranormal things. He could stop and get a better look whenever he wanted.

He absently wondered how Zim was handling the people on the bus. They were definitely giving him a hard time.

With any luck, Zim would expose himself by letting his anger get the best of him. The bullies were probably driving him crazy.

Then again, when Zim was angry, people tended to die. Maybe it would be better if Zim controlled himself.

Maybe he could try to-

Dib gasped as he tripped on a tree root. His hands were scraped. He groaned as he pulled himself off of the sidewalk. Good thing no one else saw him.

“Hah! The Dib-Stink has fallen due to his ignorance!” Zim. Why wasn’t he on the bus?

Dib rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Yeah, Space-Boy. Why are you walking today, anyway?” Dib asked, with the hope of gleaning some information about Zim’s next scheme.

“Ahahaha! Why would I tell you?” Zim asked, a smug grin on his face.

Dib hoped to take advantage of Zim’s incompetence. “Because I asked nicely?” He offered hopefully.

Zim blinked. “Alright. I’m merely collecting information about Earth streets. Very terrible!” He said that last bit with a loud yell.

Dib rolled his eyes, but mentally he was whirring. If he could feed Zim some misinformation about Earth streets, it could prevent a lot of trouble.

“Did you know that our streets are littered with traps?”

Zim paled. “...what?”

“And,” Dib added, grinning smugly, “Only humans can see where they are.”

Zim recoiled and then froze in place. “You are lying, human!” He yelled, pointing a gloved finger accusatorially at Dib.

“Nope! It’s one hundred percent true. I can’t believe how lucky you are not to have stumbled into one yet!” Dib did his best to keep from laughing at the terrified look on Zim’s face.

Dib cheerfully continued his walk, making sure to move about like he was dodging traps. 

He occasionally glanced backwards, but Zim was still stuck in his spot. Man, it sure was easy to trick him. 

Dib glanced down at his watch. He quickly realized that he was late and began running to school. Ms. Bitters would undoubtedly be upset.

* * *

Zim still hadn’t moved from his spot.

He was absolutely terrified. Of course the humans had set traps, it was so obvious! The way the sidewalk was cracked intermittently, it was an obvious sign.

Or maybe, Dib had lied, in an attempt to expose him. If someone was standing still in the middle of the sidewalk then surely it would raise some questions.

But if it  was true, then Zim couldn’t afford to make a single mistake. He still had to keep up appearances.

A look at his Earth watch and he knewthat he was going to be late if he didn’t move immediately. Being late would inevitably draw unwanted attention to himself. 

He would have to move carefully, in case the Dib-stink was telling the truth. He closed his eyes and took a step forward.

Success! No traps went off, he was safe! 

Still, the skool was a bit away. If he wanted to get there on time, he had to hurry. 

Another step forward. Zim held his breath.Still no traps. He leaned down and picked up a pebble. 

He took a deep breath and tossed it forward. No traps! So the Dib-stink was lying, in a feeble attempt to hold him back.

It was of no matter. If he wasn’t to be late, he must hurry!

* * *

Zim walked in just a moment after the bell rang. Dib looked surprised that he arrived at all. Zim shot him a death glare as he slid into his seat.

Dib did his best to focus on the lesson, but he was positive he was being fed lies. This skool had absolutely no budget whatsoever! The curriculum was trash.

However, he took silent joy in the fact that Zim was being fed these lies as well. Such misinformation would absolutely ruin his plans.

Whatever those plans were. He still hadn’t found anything about Zim’s next scheme. And he was positive that Zim was planning  something.  After all, he was always planning something. 

* * *

The skool day went as normal. Well, normal as possible given the circumstances.

It was a rare instance when Zim wasn’t at his house immediately after skool. These didn’t happen very often, but it was a great opportunity for Dib.

He could place a button camera somewhere in Zim’s house. Even though surveillance never lasted long, he might be able to learn something about Zim’s next plot.

Gir would likely be there “guarding” the house. It wouldn’t be difficult to bypass him, though. 

The real challenge would be getting past the gnomes. They had disabled him on multiple occasions. Luckily, he had practice.

As Dib approached Zim’s house, he silently wondered  why  Zim wasn’t home yet. Surely it had something to do with his evil plans.

He finally arrived, staring at the small front yard on Zim’s questionably acquired land. The gnomes were there. 

A deep breath, and he sprinted to the door. He just barely made it in before the gnomes caught him.

“Heyyy big-head. What are you doing in ma house?”

Dib looked at Gir straight in the eyes. “If you tell anyone that I was here, you’ll be in big trouble. Especially if you tell Zim.” 

Gir gasped. “Nooooo! I don wanna be in trouble!”

Dib held back a chuckle. “Then don’t tell,” he stated with absolute conviction.

Dib took several minutes looking around the house before finally placing the camera next to Zim’s TV. It would be a good view of exactly what he was doing, as well as his state of mind.

With another deep breath, and a smile at his success, Dib left the house. He was successful.

He didn’t even bother to dodge the gnomes as they hustled him away from Zim’s door. That was where he wanted to go anyway.

* * *

Zim had finally arrived home. It had been so aggravating to join one of those infernal “clubs” just to seem normal. So many dirty humans clustered together.

He was quite relieved that he only had to go once a week. Surely he could deal with it if it assisted his mission.

He let out a laugh as he lowered himself onto the couch. He could hardly wait another second to inform the Tallest of his plans and discoveries.

“Computer, call the Tallest. Display on the upstairs screen,” he instructed, remembering how the computer could be finicky.

“Whatever,” was the uncaring reply, as neutral as usual.

The Tallest answered almost immediately, a rarity for them.

“Zim, listen,” Purple started, voice low. “We were just about to call you.”

Red pointed at the screen. “We hate you, you’re a terrible invader, and Earth isn’t a real mission.”

“We would’ve kept messing with you, but Operation Impending Doom II is really getting underway and-“

Red interrupted, “And we want you to stop wasting our time. Don’t call us again.”

The screen faded and the TV turned off.

Zim stared at it, in complete and utter shock. Surely the Tallest weren’t bing serious! They would call back in just a minute, right?

He sat there for what felt like ages, staring at the blank screen. As the minutes ticked by, the truth slowly started to sink in. He wasn’t a real invader.

The one thing he’d focused his entire life on. The thing he’d spent his every living breathing second doing. None of it was real.

He fell to his side. His legs curled up and he hugged himself, feeling something he never had before. 

* * *

Dib stared in shock at the screen. Zim wasn’t a real invader?

That meant that he didn’t have to worry about Earth being in danger anymore. It was perfect!

But, if Zim’s mission to destroy Earth was fake, then Dib’s mission to stop him was fake too. 

So, even though Earth was safe, it had never been in danger in the first place. He had spent every second of his day trying to stop Zim from destroying Earth. All that was a lie.

The goal Dib had devoted himself to was absolutely fake.

He felt like crying. Why did everything he do have to be unimportant? He never seemed to make a difference in anybody’s lives, no matter how hard he tried.

Dib fell on the floor and curled up into a tiny ball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve got a lots of things planned for this story. It’s been in the works for a while. I plan to update on the first of every month!  
> Oh, and I started writing this before Enter the Florpus, so there are a few discrepancies.


	2. Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are cleared up between Zim and Dib, but they’re both just even more confused.

Dib was no longer laying on the floor. Instead, he was collapsed on his bed, not doing very much of anything.

Different thoughts all buzzed in his head, begging for his attention. 

If his mission was a lie, then he had wasted so much of his time trying to stop a threat that wasn’t real.

Why did he feel so bad for Zim, his mortal enemy?

He couldn’t decide on any of these thoughts to focus on. And he hardly understood any of them. It was like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle, but the puzzle pieces weren’t actually puzzle pieces at all.

In other words, it was confusing. And a lost cause.

The worst part was that he had absolutely no one to discuss it with. He was surely the only person who felt the way he did.

Well, there was one person he could talk to about it.

Over my dead body, he thought, banishing the idea.

* * *

Zim was going through something similar. It was hard for him to comprehend what exactly had happened.

The Tallest... hated him?

Every time he tried to confront the idea, he felt a horrible pain in his chest. 

He had never felt a pain like that before. In truth, not many Irkens since the invention of the PAK ever had. 

The Tallest had just told him that his goal to please them was just a joke. A gag. They hated him. 

The statement of fact burned into his mind as he lay curled up on the couch.

Everything, built on a lie.

He would bet his antennae that there was no one else who felt the way he did.

His computer chose the worst moment to speak up. “Oh, by the way, Gir shouldn’t be in charge of guarding the base anymore.”

Zim sat up. “What?” He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to decide the best way to address this.

“Computer, show all relevant camera files,” he decided, knowing that he would get the straight facts. 

He watched in shock at the way Dib outmaneuvered the gnomes and tricked Gir. Zim stared as Dib chose the best possible place to put a camera.

Zim stood up and looked straight at where the camera was. “You’re probably enjoying this, aren’t you, Dib-stink? Seeing your enemy reduced to this! Well guess what? I guess we aren’t enemies anymore! As you could probably tell, I lost my job!”

Zim ripped the camera off the wall and crushed it between his gloved fingers. “This is probably a field day for him!”

* * *

As already established, Dib was most definitely not having a field day. In fact, he was barely paying attention to the camera feed as he lay on his bed.

It was only the way that Zim so clearly addressed him that caught his attention. He turned his head towards the monitor and watched.

Zim’s aggressive reaction was not surprising, but it was a touch nerve-racking.

He was not at all enjoying his enemy’s pain. In fact, it was quite troubling to him. 

He couldn’t really figure out why.

Perhaps it was merely his brain’s attempt to find someone to sympathize with. 

He let out a sigh as he turned the computer off. No reason to waste power now that his camera was discovered.

A knock on his door. “Hey. Dad says you should come get lunch, or whatever,” Gaz said.

Dib took a deep breath. Maybe eating something would clear his head a bit. He hadn’t even left his room since last night.

So he decided to go down and get something. Besides, it’s not like he could feel any worse.

* * *

Zim couldn’t decide whether to be filled with rage or filed with sorrow regarding the Tallest.

He already knew he was angry at the Dib-stink. 

All of his life, he had been instructed to trust and obey his leaders. Now that he didn’t have them, he was stranded and confused with no clue how to cope.

He was extremely happy that it was not a skool day, as he wasn’t sure if he could handle his turmoiling emotions. 

Then again, did he really have to go to skool anymore? He didn’t have to keep up a cover for his mission, because he didn’t have a mission anymore.

Still, it would likely be best if he did attend skool. Even if he didn’t have to gather information, he still didn’t want to end up locked in some scientist’s basement.

* * *

A couple of hours passed before Zim heard the familiar “Intruder Alert!”

It was likely just a mailman, but Zim pulled himself off of the couch and peered outside anyway. 

He felt himself gasp as he saw Dib waiting just off the front lawn, unnoticeable by the gnomes.

Zim took a moment to give him a closer examination. He was surprise to see that Dib looked morose and disheveled. Surely he would have been celebratory!

Zim jerked open the door. “What is it that you want, filthy big-headed human?”

Dib took a deep breath before replying. “I just wanted you to know that I am most definitely not enjoying myself.” With that, he began to leave, silently cursing himself for coming at all.

“Wait!” Zim called out. “What do you mean?” He asked, genuinely curious as to why Dib wasn’t happy. 

Dib turned around. “Because if your mission was a lie, then mine was too!” He finally yelled.

Zim froze. Of course. He felt a rush of empathy with Dib. They really were going through the same thing. 

Zim stood on his front step, just looking at Dib. 

Dib stared back, standing on the sidewalk.

Their eyes met, and they came to a silent agreement. 

Zim went back inside, and Dib started back home.

But they were both a bit different than before.

* * *

Dib slid down to the floor and leaned against his wall. A few days ago, he saw Zim as a mortal enemy. Now they were...

Well, what were they now? Surely not friends, they’d barely said a few sentences to each other that weren’t threats.

But Dib did know that things in his life were going to change. Would he still try to expose Zim as an alien? Since Zim wasn’t going to be hurting anyone, he didn’t have a real reason to.

Would he try to talk to Zim again? Would Zim try to talk to him?

So many unanswered questions. He had more problems than before.

So why did he feel better now? Was it just a certain relief in the fact that he wasn’t being misconstrued? 

That didn’t seem right.

But, what else could it be?

* * *

Zim was in a haze as he collapsed onto his couch. He felt so much better now that he knew Dib wasn’t laughing at him.

He froze. Why did he suddenly care what Dib thought of him? He never had before.

He felt as if they weren’t truly enemies anymore. But that was ridiculous! Of course they were enemies. They always had been. 

But outside, just a moment ago, they hadn’t fought at all. They’d had a civilized, albeit short, conversation.

So, they weren’t enemies. What were they? We’re they possibly... friends?

No, Zim banished the thought. Irkens didn’t have “friends.” It got in the way of their duties.

Duties that he didn’t have anymore.

* * *

The weekend passed with each of them thinking similar things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is!   
> ...a day late.  
> I’m super sorry I forgot to post it yesterday, guys. I promise it won’t happen again. The first of every month, that’s a promise!  
> I’ve hit a bit of a writing block, but I have a good idea where the story is going next.  
> I really appreciate any kudos or comments you leave. It gives me a lot more motivation to write.


	3. Communication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib and Zim have to face the terrible horror of... a partner project!  
> Dib reaches out with empathy and they end up spending more time talking than working.

Dib took a deep breath before walking into the classroom. 

He glanced at Zim as he walked in. They met eyes for a millisecond before both looking away again.

Brilliant.

He sat down at his desk and silently started to fidget with his pencils.

Ms. Bitters slid into the room, looking as scary as ever. “You will all be doing research projects with a partner. I have picked your partners based on how much misery it will cause you all,” she droned. “The list is up there.” She pointed at a crumpled gray paper towel hanging from a ripped piece of tape on the cracked wall. “You will each choose an animal to make a poster about.”

Everyone rushed over to the wall, hoping to get started on the project right away. Zim and Dib both walked slower, not really in the mood to rush.

Besides, they both had a pretty good guess as to who their partners were.

Dib finally reached the paper as everyone else left it. Just as he expected, he was partnered with Zim. Of course Ms. Bitters would put him with Zim.

* * *

Zim stood staring at the paper next to Dib. He could barely read the English alphabet, but he had a hypothesis as to who his partner was. After all, everyone else was already working. 

“Guess what?” Dib said weakly. “We’re partners.”

“Joy,” Zim muttered, already predicting how awkward this would be.

As they walked towards a corner of the room, Zim absently wondered how this was going to go. Would Dib try to talk about what happened? Would they end up driving each other mad? It was impossible to tell.

They sat down on the floor. They were distant enough from everyone else that no one would be able to tell what they were talking about.

It was likely done subconsciously.

Zim surprised himself by being the first to break the silence. “I have a feeling, Dib-stink, that we will not be able to work efficiently if we do not address what happened this weekend.” 

Dib nodded slowly. “Yeah. I was thinking something similar.” 

Another awkward silence. 

“So,” Zim started. 

“So,” responded Dib.

Another silence. Not exactly surprising, given that both of them had a total lack of social skills.

“I’m sorry.”

Zim startled at the words he heard. Why would Dib be sorry? What had he done? Why did he feel bad for something? 

“I just... I think I know how you feel more than you think.”

Zim felt himself getting angry. “What on Irk possible makes you think that you can relate to how I’m feeling?” He asked, agitated.

Dib took a deep breath. “My whole life, no one has taken my passions seriously. I’ve spent so much time trying to prove to people that I’m not useless, and now I know that I was the whole time.”

Zim admitted to himself that this was pretty much exactly how he felt. “Alright. So maybe you do know.”

Zim looked down at the floor. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. We’re enemies.”

“Yeah, we’re enemies, but now there’s no reason for us to be,” he stated.

Zim shook his head. “I don’t think that all our fights are just going to go away like ‘that’.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Now that I don’t have to be on this filthy planet I intend to leave as soon as possible.”

“And go where?”

Zim thought about that for several minutes. “I don’t know,” he answered finally.

Zim could feel his eyes start to water, but he forced himself to ignore it. He would not cry! Especially not in front of Dib. 

* * *

Dib sat silently as he thought.

He couldn’t believe that he and Zim were actually  _ talking _ . Not yelling at each other or trying to kill each other, but having a real conversation.

Maybe Zim wasn’t as evil as he’d seemed before. He had real emotions.

Dib was surprised with how genuine he seemed. He had never really thought of Zim as anything more than a one-dimensional villain before, but now he realized how ridiculous that was.

Still, he was surprised how quickly months of hate and rivalry could die when seeing someone in such an emotionally vulnerable state.

“Well, now that you’re not trying to destroy it anymore, I guess you can stay here until you figure it out,” Dib finally said. It was the best thing he could think of to say.

“I don’t think there’s really any other place for me to go,” answered Zim, quietly reflecting.

Dib closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. 

“Stay on Earth forever, then. I won’t stop you.”

Zim looked away. “Only because I don’t have any other options.”

Dib chuckled. “Hey, that’s why anyone does anything.”

Zim allowed himself a small laugh.

He almost felt bad for Dib. If he really was going through a similar emotional turmoil...

“...thanks.”

“Geez, I never thought I’d hear you say  _ that  _ to me.” 

“I never thought I’d say it.”

They both let out a quiet laugh.

Zim felt a genuine grin pull at the edge of his mouth. “I’m still the only one with the technology to decode the files.”

Dib rolled his eyes jokingly. “Yeah, yeah, Space-boy.”

They laughed again, and felt the ice breaking.

With something so big to bring them together, it was no surprise how quickly they realized how much they had in common. 

“So we have to decide on an Earth animal to do a report on,” Zim started, now confident that they could actually get some work done.

“Any ideas?”

“As if. I still don’t know a thing about Earth fauna,” he answered.

Dib gave Zim a bit of an incredulous look. “How long have you been here again?”

Zim narrowed his eyes. “I never had a need to pay attention to it. After all, plants and animals that aren’t deemed useful are destroyed during the organic sweep.”

Dib sat up. “But that’s such a waste!”

“I don’t make the rules,” he shrugged. “But admittedly, the nature here can be quite... beautiful.”

The lunch bell rang.

They looked at each other a moment before running off to the cafeteria.

“Hey, listen. If you want, I guess you can sit with Gaz and I.”

Zim blinked. “Oh, the whispering and rumors would just fly around.”

“I don’t think that it would bother me to confuse those idiots.”

“Wouldn’t take a lot.

They laughed as they continued walking.

“Alright, but what about your sister? What would she say?”

Dib did a poor impression of her. “I don’t care just as long as you let me play my game.”

“From what little I know of your sister, that seems rather accurate.”

They laughed again.

Dib hadn’t felt content like this ever before. He had always struggled with something or other.

Zim was also in a rather good mood. The only happiness he’d felt before was smug and fleeting. But now he was actually enjoying himself. 

“But seriously, what comes next?”

Zim answered in a grave tone. “You give me snacks.”

Dib was taken completely by surprise with that one. 

They reached the cafeteria.

Despite it being as gloomy and dirty as always, it didn’t seem so terrible anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fucking.,,, kill me,,,,  
> I did it again.   
> Anyway, here it is! I feel guilty that you guys had to wait a couple days. Then again, maybe it would have been in bad taste to upload it on April Fools Day.   
> I’ve hit a pretty bad writers block with this story, but you guys don’t have to worry about that for like a year.  
> Hopefully by then I’ll have worked through it.  
> I appreciate the kudos you guys left! Stuff like that means a lot to authors.   
> Any reviews would also be greatly appreciated! Don’t be afraid to critique it along with your surely heaping piles of praise.  
> I’m not scary, I promise.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib and Zim start their project, meanwhile we reunite with an old enemy.

Chapter 4. Dodge

Zim sat on the pink couch in his living room. He felt like he could take on the world. Not that he needed to, though.

How unlikely was it that he would become friends with one of his greatest enemies? Forget that “no friends” stuff the Tallest tried to force on him, this was great!

He suddenly felt a wave of anger. 

Followed by a wave of sadness.

And suddenly he was in a bad mood again.

* * *

Dib sighed and fell onto his bed. His enemy, now his first ever friend.

Zim had a surprisingly great sense of humor.

He couldn’t believe how quickly things changed between them. Just a couple of days and... Wow!

Dib felt genuinely happy. It was a rare occurrence for him. 

Even though the rest of the school would be extremely confused as to why they were suddenly getting along.

And even though his life’s purpose had been destroyed, he was happy.

Oh wait. No, he was depressed again.

* * *

The Tallest were busy with the preparations for Operation: Impending Doom II. It was getting busy, now that more Irken invaders had finished up their planets.

They had tons of planning to do; there was only one armada!

Finally, they didn’t have to worry about that idiot Zim. He had destroyed a fifth of Irk! They would have been better off just executing him, even now there was no promise that he would leave them alone.

Red was suddenly struck with an idea. He should have known already that Zim would never leave them alone unless he was dead.

And they certainly wanted to be left alone.

* * *

She scanned her surroundings on the strange new planet. What was this place?

She had been floating in space for almost a month, only barely surviving because of her PAK.

Now, she was on a planet covered in vegetation. She almost couldn’t see the sky through all the purple trees.

She silently cursed the ones that forced her here. Why was her life just an endless cascade of horribleness?

She didn’t see any animals. 

Not that she minded. In fact, she had never seen one in her life.

Her antennae perked up at the sound of a voice nearby.

“Are you sure it was over here?”

“Pretty sure.”

She ducked behind a tree as two creatures entered her view. They had long orange arms and yellow eyes.

“Hello?” 

“Is someone here?”

They glanced around, obviously looking for her.

“Hey, we just want to help. I’m sure you didn’t land here on purpose.”

“We can help you get to your home planet.”

She read their faces. They really did seem to want to help her.

She stepped out and showed herself. “Alright. I’ll accept your help.”

One of them jumped a mile. “You startled me! What’s your name?”

Her antennae relaxed. “Tak. My name is Tak.”

The one who hadn’t jumped smiled welcomingly. “I’m Grayse, and this is Strin. Welcome to the planet Drend.”

* * *

Zim was busying himself with tidying up the kitchen when he heard the familiar “Intruder alert!”

He let out a breath and went to see who was there.

He was surprised to see Dib there, wearing his backpack, but ushered him in. 

“What are you doing here?”

Dib shrugged. “I know Ms. Bitters. She’s going to give us an absurd due date for the project. We didn’t even get any work done in class.”

Zim looked incredulous. “I can just ask the computer to make our project.”

Dib blinked. “But that- that’s cheating! Is that what you do for every assignment?”

Zim shrugged. “Well, yes. Why does it matter?”

Dib pinched the bridge of his nose. “You have to learn things in school, so you can understand things in college, so you can get a good job when you’re an adult and live comfortably.”

Zim tilted his head sideways. “Your jobs are not decided for you?”

Dib froze. “No,” he said carefully. “We get to choose our jobs.” 

Zim sat down and gestured for Dib to sit next to him.

He did.

“But most people won’t be able to choose the best job for themselves. Right?”

Dib sighed. “That’s true. A lot of people end up stuck in jobs they hate or aren’t good at.”

Zim closed his eyes and thought for a moment. “Then why do your leaders still choose to give you free choice? Irk must be more productive than Earth.”

Dib leaned back into the couch. “Because most people are happier when they have free choice.”

Zim sat up. “So, Earth values happiness over productivity? What’s the point of that?”

Dib looked Zim in the eye. “What’s the point of being productive if you can’t enjoy it?”

Zim thought about that for a long moment. He had never thought of it that way, and now he felt like he understood more about the Earth. 

“Interesting point, Dib-stink. Now, what shall our project be about?” 

Dib thought for a moment. “Giraffes. I can finally prove to everybody that they aren’t real!”

Zim shook his head. “It’s always a conspiracy with you. What ARE giraffes, anyway?”

“Okay, so, they’re bodies are shaped like stools, with four legs in a square. They have necks four feet long that extend up out of the front of their body. They have ears a few inches off the top of their head that look like lightbulbs. They’re yellow with brown spots.”

“...That doesn’t sound much stranger than the other things on Earth.”

Dib stood up. “Well, it is. And I think that giraffes are just government spy drones!” He gestured wildly in expression.

Zim rolled his eyes. “No government with any credibility would make their spy drones look so conspicuous.”

Dib blinked. “What?”

“No governme-“

“No, no, I heard you. Just- what? Are you saying that the government does have spy drones?”

Zim smirked. “Well, duh. Honestly it’s probably those small flying creatures.”

Dib tilted his head. “You think that birds are the drones?”

“It’s just a guess, but if I could catch one to analyze...”

“You could tell whether or not it’s a drone!”

“Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot. Again. Don't worry, I'll get the hang of this eventually.


End file.
